Category: Wild Turtles & Tortoises
Reintroduced Desert Tortoises Emerge From Their Burrows In Headstart Success
“Mortality of juvenile desert tortoises is dramatic, often approaching 100% in areas where ravens are overpopulated due to humans providing them food [...]
USFWS Reopens Public Comment Period On Western Pond Turtle Protections
The western pond turtle is native to California and much of the West Coast of the United States. [...]
122 Captive-Bred Royal Turtles Hatched In Cambodia
The species, also known as the royal turtle in Cambodia, has successfully laid eggs in captivity at the center for three years. [...]
Chonkosauraus the Snapping Turtle Make Debut On Once Toxic Chicago River
The Chicago River was once a highly polluted waterway with high levels of PCBs and mercury contamination due in large part to industry that used the r [...]
Newquay Zoo Announces Addition of Critically Endangered Big-Headed Turtle
The Newquay Zoo in Newquay, Cornwall, England announced it has added a critically endangered big-headed turtle (Platysternon megacephalum) to its coll [...]
Specialist Turtles And Crocodiles Most Likely To Go Extinct, Study Says
Issues such as unsustainable local consumption, diseases, and pollution are associated with the life history strategies of these animals and climate c [...]
Leucistic Loggerhead Sea Turtle Hatchling Found In Cape Hatteras
The turtle has some pigmentation and its eyes are brown, rather than the red that is seen in albino animals. [...]
Two-headed Diamondback Terrapin Hatchling Doing Well At MA’s Cape Wildlife Center
A two-headed diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) that hatched in a head start nesting site in Barnstable, MA is doing well at the Cape Wildlife [...]
Chinese National Gets 38 Month In Prison For Financing Turtle Smuggling Ring
Kang Juntao, 25 and a resident of Hangzhou City, China pleaded guilty to financing a smuggling ring that smuggled about 1,500 protected turtles out of [...]
Leatherback Sea Turtles Should Be Listed As Endangered In CA, Agency Says
The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) should be listed as endangered under the state of California’s Endangered Species Act, The Californi [...]
Study Highlights Marine Plastic Ingestion In Sea Turtles
A 2018 study found that micro plastics and what is now called marine plastics have been found in all seven marine turtle species. That study looked at [...]
Gopher Tortoise Painted Pink, Florida FWC Seeking Culprit
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is actively seeking any information leading to the arrest and conviction of perpetrators who pai [...]
Florida Man Buys Land To Help Save Local Gopher Tortoise Population
A man on Marco Island in Florida has acquired a vacant plot of land next to his home to ensure that the gopher tortoises that live on the plot are ens [...]
Nashville Biologists Track Eastern Box Turtles
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) and the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere are tracking eastern box turtles (Terrapene carolina carolina) in Na [...]
Two Palawan Forest Turtles Released Into The Wild
The first two captive-bred Palawan forest turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis) from a captive breeding program on Palawan island in the Philippines hav [...]
TSA Documents 100th Alligator Snapping Turtle In Texas’ Buffalo Bayou
The Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) announced last week that it has captured, tagged and released the 99th and 100th alligator snapping turtle (Macroch [...]
38 Gopher Tortoises Released In Mississippi By The Nature Conservancy
Mississippi just gained an additional 38 gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) in the wild as the Nature Conservancy earlier this month released the [...]
Nearly 200 Hatchling Galapagos Tortoises Seized At Galapagos Island Airport
The Galapagos tortoise is captive bred in many countries around the world to ensure the survival of these species, yet some smugglers tried to smuggle [...]
The Successful Return Of 12 Indian Star Tortoises Back Into The Wild
The Indian star tortoise (Geochelone elegans), one of the most beautiful tortoises in all of Asia, is sadly disappearing from the India landscape. Esc [...]
Female Yangtze Giant Soft-Shell Turtle Discovered In Vietnamese Lake
Sixteen months after the last known female Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) died at the Suzhou Zoo in China, a female of this critic [...]
Captive Breeding Program For The Spotted Turtle Launched In Ohio
The spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, and is under review for protections under the Endangered Species Ac [...]
Florida Residents Should Be On The Lookout For Nesting Turtles And Turtle Nests
If you live in the state of Florida, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission wants you to know that it is turtle nesting season. The FWC [...]
Researchers Describe New Mata Mata Turtle Species
The turtles diverged during the Miocene period, about 13 million years ago. [...]
COVID-19 Lockdowns Beneficial To Nesting Sea Turtles
The effects of stay at home orders are having beneficial effects for sea turtle nestings as beaches become devoid of human life. [...]